Former Mayor, Council Member, Town Hall Anchor, Now Vernon's Senior Center Director

VERNON, Connecticut – So ... what hasn't Diane Wheelock done in Vernon? Well ... her familiar face is now headed to the senior center.

Wheelock, who has served as interim Senior Center Director since early 2026, has been selected as the center's next director.

Subscribe

Wheelock served as interim director while also carrying out her duties as executive assistant to Mayor Dan Champagne. She is a former mayor and town council member.

During her time serving as interim director, Wheelock has demonstrated a "grasp of the senior center's needs as well as opportunities to expand outreach into the community," town officials said.

She has also been forced to deal with "difficult situations and handled them appropriately," they added.

"Vernon has an active and engaged senior community that heavily uses our senior center and Diane has
effectively managed the facility and programing," Vernon Mayor Dan Champagne said. "Her ideas to increase use
at the center and to make its programming appealing to even more people is something I want to see. We have a great senior center and we have made investments over the past year to make it even better. I am confident Diane is the right person to lead that effort. But I am also torn. I have worked with Diane for years and losing her from administration is a big loss, but I know we’ll be able to call on her for guidance and help."

A multi-use building which will enable the senior center to expand health and wellness activities, including athletics, is scheduled to open shortly.

"Diane knows Vernon and she has shown she has what it takes to lead a very important town department," Deputy Mayor Maryann Levesque said. "We want what is best for our large senior population and we want programming that helps them keep active, engaged and healthy. Diane is the right person to lead that effort and I am thrilled the mayor selected her to lead the senior center."